


Bredhyu

by soo



Category: Darkover series - Marion Zimmer Bradley
Genre: M/M, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-20
Updated: 2010-12-20
Packaged: 2017-10-13 21:04:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/141710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soo/pseuds/soo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the aftermath of the battle with Arlinn Tower, just how close did the occupants of the Forbidden Tower become?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bredhyu

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sanj](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sanj/gifts).



> As usual, I have to thank elyn for taking time out of her busy schedule to help make this story better. Any errors are mine.

Andrew carefully groomed the horses. After they’d returned from Thendara, he took over some of the chores of the stable hands. It wasn’t that he was trying to escape from Callista - nothing could be further from the truth. He was ecstatic that he was finally able to touch and be with his beloved.

But the experience all of them had shared knit them even closer together, and sometimes it overwhelmed him. Before that joyous night and the battle against Arlinn Tower, he’d thought living in a family of telepaths was awkward, noisy, and a little too close for comfort, but now it felt like they were living in each others skins.

So he escaped to the stables whenever he could, to retreat into his own head. He knew that this hurt the others, but they were too polite to mention it, and he needed the time to adjust to this foreign world. He thought he was doing pretty well, considering. He was learning to use his laran with the help of the others, he'd married the girl of his dreams in Callista, and he was expecting his first child with Ellemir.

Andrew thought he’d come to terms with being part of a foursome. He’d come to realize some time ago that they weren’t just swapping partners when the mood struck them, that it was something much more. Each one of them gave something to the group that the others couldn’t, and he loved that. But in recent weeks, he’s been struggling with his attraction to Damon.

It wasn’t that homosexuality had been frowned upon in the Terran Empire. In fact, many times the counselors had encourage him to take a male lover, since he never settled down with one woman. But as a Terran, you were either one, or the other - a homosexual, or a heterosexual. He loved Callista with every fiber of his being, and he held a deep affection for Ellemir. But what he felt for Damon... He didn’t know anymore. A few months ago, he would’ve said it was akin to brotherhood, but now it was more than that, or different than that, and he didn’t know how to deal with it.

If he was attracted to both sexes and cared for both, then just what was he?

Andrew sighed. He just wanted things to go back to the way they were before he realized he was attracted to Damon. But he didn’t think that was possible, not with the way their minds were in such close contact.

“Bredhyu, I thought I’d find you here,” Damon said softly.

Andrew started and almost dropped the brushed he’d been using. “Damon, is something wrong?”

Damon laughed softly, “I was going to ask you that. We could hear you all the way up at the house.”

“Oh, I was just...” Andrew trailed off. He didn’t know how to explain it to Damon.

“Callista told me how the two of spoke at Thendara, and how it cleared the air between you.”

“And she thought it would do the same for us.”

“It would be a start.” Damon took a brush from the wall and joined Andrew in grooming the horses. “This reminds you of your home in Phoenix, doesn’t it?”

Andrew frowned, not understanding where the conversation was going. “Yes.”

“Do you miss it?”

“A bit. I enjoy working and being with horses. I didn’t get the opportunity to spend much time on any world that had horses while working for the Empire. It’s more of a comfort, really.”

Damon sighed. “We know so little about each others cultures, and it seems that we keep running into difficulties with the social mores of our two societies.”

"It isn't a clash of cultures. It's a clash going on inside of me."

"The Terrans have homosexuality?" Damon asked surprised.

Andrew laughed. "Oh, god, yes. The ship's counselors were constantly trying to get me to experiment with it."

"Then if that isn't the problem, what kind of clash is going on inside of you?"

"You're either one, or the other," Andrew said with a slight blush coloring his cheeks.

"Sexuality isn't fluid? You can't have both male and female lovers?"

Andrew shook his head.

"That seems so foreign a concept to me. Maybe it's because the Cheiri were hermaphrodite and could change sex at will, which is why we consider it normal here in the Domains."

"Have you had male lovers, then?"

Damon nodded. "Coryn and I were bredin even at such a tender age. I haven't taken one since."

“And you," he stumbled over the next words, "want me?”

“Of course, bredhyu.” Damon reached over and casually stroked Andrew’s cheek. “But I will never pressure you into something you don’t want.”

“I’m not sure what I want.”

"Well, we can explore all our options.” Damon leaned in and brushed his lips softly over Andrew’s.

Andrew shuddered as a frisson of sensation shot through him. He pulled away slightly. It felt good, but he still didn’t know what to make of it. He looked into Damon’s searching eyes and didn’t know how to respond. So he did the only that he could think of: he opened himself up to Damon.

Immediately, he felt Damon’s reassuring presence and an attraction corresponding to his own. Feeling that corresponding attraction - and how natural it seemed to Damon - eased something within him. Maybe the Terrans have been wrong all this time. Maybe sexuality _was_ fluid.

Andrew hesitantly reached out to Damon and kissed him. It started it out tentatively, but grew into something deeper, more meaningful. This time, instead of feeling a sensation of pleasure shooting solely through himself, he felt it reverberate through both of them.

Reluctantly, they drew apart, and Andrew smiled. “I think we have a lot to explore.”

“Yes. Yes, we do,” Damon said laughingly.

Andrew caught Damon’s hand up in his own, and they made their way back to the main house. Within seconds of their hands touching, he felt Callista and Ellemir join them, their giggly, approving voices echoing in his head. He grinned as he felt their minds came together as a familiar foursome, and he knew that whatever happened between Damon and him would only make them stronger.


End file.
